Saturday, March 20, 2010

A CHRISTMAS FEELING IN THE APACHE PASS

SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS (to-day's photos were taken through a dirty motorhome windshield driving through the Apache Pass in the Sierra Blanca mountains in New Mexico...sorry about the splooches & bug splotches)

We were happy campers last night when the heavy wind gusts finally subsided around 7. However, they were back again in the middle of the night & it was the same old routine......... get up, get the slides in, & try to get back to sleep!!

THE ORGAN MOUNTAINS EAST OF LAS CRUCES...SAN AUGUSTIN PASS IS THE LOW POINT OVER TOP THE SILVER CAR AT LEFT

Well, we sure knew we weren't in the warm southern air of the Phoenix area anymore when we stepped out into the 40 something Fahrenheit temperatures this morning. Throw in a wind chill factor & it was darn well cold!!

ENTERING THE SIERRA BLANCA MOUNTAINS EAST OF TULAROSA

We had the wheels back on I-10 by 6:15 New Mexico time heading for Las Cruces. Traffic was light & the early morning sun sat right on my eyeballs. Last year we made the mistake of thinking it would be better to go through Las Cruces rather than around it. We were much smarter this year & stayed on I-10 until it connected with I-25. Picked up highway 70, climbed up Organ mountain & cleared the San Augustin Pass without any problems.

WINTER SCENES IN THE APACHE PASS (click to enlarge)

As soon as we cleared the long grade down into the Tularosa Valley, strong cross winds hassled us all the way across the White Sands Missile Range. Picked up the Alamogordo by-pass & swung up into the Sierra Blanca mountains at Tularosa. The morning sunshine we had enjoyed was lost to a heavy cloud cover in the mountains & the temperatures dropped. Every car coming the other way had snow on it so we knew for sure we would be into some kind of weather.

We like this route because the Apache Pass is a reasonably easy way over the mountains & is not unduly hard on the motorhome for long periods of time. Two years ago we saw snow in the pass on our way home & today we saw even more. Roads were wet but bare, so no problem. The landscape reminded me so much of Christmas with pine trees layered in coats of white. Just east of Ruidoso it began to lightly snow & I had all kinds of Christmas Carols going through my head. Same thing happened two years ago.

Coming down the eastern side of the mountains we could see patches of blue sky ahead in the direction of Roswell. Didn't last long though & by the time we reached the renowned space alien city on the edge of the great plains country the skies were totally overcast. Fueled up in Roswell & off we headed for the looooooong journey across the treeless flat tundra.

Our goal was Brownfield, Texas because we like to use a free little fairground park there that has a Wifi hotspot. Sometimes we are the only one's here but not today. We got the second last spot so there's about a dozen rigs in here. Sun is back out but it's really cold so I'll be spending my time inside until we roll out early in the morning.

EXITING THE EAST SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS ONTO THE OPEN PLAINS

Had a comment about, 'will I continue to blog once we get home' & the answer to that questions is.....yes!! Last year when we arrived home I didn't blog for a few days but my blabbering fingers couldn't stay away from the keyboard & I was right back at it again & continued posting every day since then. Started doing this blogging stuff about September of 07 I think. If you look back in our archives to last spring, summer, & fall, you will find a blog every single day. And photos each day as well. I always manage to come up with things to write & photograph so if the interest is there I will keep the blog going again all summer. And if it isn't there, I will keep it going anyway. As mentioned in a previous post, I enjoy doing this blog & it gives me a focus & purpose for myself each day.

ROSWELL ALIEN ON A WALL NEAR THE MAIN INTERSECTION AND THE MILES & MILES & MILES OF FLAT COUNTRY WE HAVE TO CROSS

Welcome to our latest blog follower, Rick. The southwest travel part of the blog may be temporarily coming to an end but hang in there Rick, there's more to come:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man went to his dentist because he feels something wrong in his mouth. The dentist examines him and says, "that new upper plate I put in for you six months ago is eroding. What have you been eating?" The man replies, "all I can think of is that about four months ago my wife made some asparagus and put some stuff on it that was delicious...Hollandaise sauce. I loved it so much I now put it on everything --- meat, toast, fish, vegetables, everything." "Well," says the dentist, "that's probably the problem. Hollandaise sauce is made with lots of lemon juice, which is highly corrosive. It's eaten away your upper plate. I'll make you a new plate, and this time use chrome." "Why chrome?" asks the patient. To which the dentist replies, "It's simple. Everyone knows that there's no plate like chrome for the Hollandaise!"

9 comments:

Snow - wow! We'll be heading on the same route you've taken in about 3 weeks, so it was sure great to see some pictures of the roads and to hear your descriptions as well. Hope the snow's all gone though.

Glad to hear you'll be blogging thru the long hot summer, I'll try and keep you company with mine. If we bore everyone else to death, at least we can comment on each others!!

I'm not an RV'er...just a vicarious traveler, but when you hit Roswell, you hit the very place I'll be in two weeks. By then, it'll be almost too warm. It never fails...snow just before EAster, and then warm, warmer, hot from then on. I enjoyed seeing NM areas when it's cold! Thanks for the early pictures.

You and Rick will have to both keep blogging, because it is encouraging to me to keep it up too. We're never bored with your stuff. We hope to be heading to some trees in April and May, but there'll also be some home time getting the casita totally settled and getting my knee cut open and fixed. So there will be blog material. Ain't it fun!

Ok Al... You could never bore us with your blog... I have followed you even when your not on the road and I enjoy all of your post! Funny we went the same route about 3 weeks ago(except it was the other direction)and except for in the higher elevations there was no snow... Just shows you haw fast it can chnage... I was wondering where you live in Canada and if you know the roads up to Alaska via Vancover? We changed out travel plans and instead of entering Canada through Montana we are now entering Canada at Vancover and heading up into Alaska... We are in a 40 foot MH.... Thanks for any help you can give us. Have a safe trip and always have fun!!!Donna

We were supposed to be on a cruise round the horn,but dure to the eartquakes ended up on the mayan Riviera last week..at least we got a tan ..plus a cold from the a/c at the resort..lol..keep on trucking..love your pups..(((hugs))

AL'S CAMERA EQUIPMENT

A sometimes asked question readers have about my blog is what kind of a camera do I use. Well I have 8 of them and use them all. Five Nikon DSLR's, two quality Sony point and shoots plus one older Canon point and shoot.

'UPDATE':: July 2017 Thanks to a very generous blog reader I have been able to update my Nikon camera equipment and supplement my camera gear with a couple additional fine Sony cameras as well.I now have a 'donated' Nikon D7200 sporting my new Nikkor 18-300 3.5 zoom lens. Also have picked up a new Nikkor 1.8 primary 35mm lens. In addition I also now have a Sony RX100-3 camera as well as a Sony Exmore Cybershot. I have given my Canon Powershot point and shoot camera to a neighbor.

- In early 2017 I replaced my Nikon D-90 camera with a new D-3400 after the 'auto focus' feature on my aging D-90 quit working. The Nikon D-90 had been my work horse camera sporting a Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens. I used this camera for most of my landscapes and I now have it set up for night photography where 'auto focus' is not necessary.

-My older faithful and favorite Nikon D-40 finally packed it in during the summer of 2015 and I replaced it with a new Nikon D-3100.

- Previous to my Nikon D-90, most of my photos were taken with my old faithful Nikon D-50 from 2006 to early 2011 whereupon the D-50 suffered a rather gruesome death when it fell off a table onto a cement porch in southeastern Arizona. The 70-300mm lens on the camera survived the fall but the D-50 did not. My Nikkor lenses are interchangable between the D-90 the D-3100 and the D-3400.